


Why Do Fools Fall in Love

by nerdytardis



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Kiss, Fluffy Ending, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Making Out, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2015-07-15
Packaged: 2018-04-09 11:50:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4347494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdytardis/pseuds/nerdytardis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After getting caught in the rain, Leonard is forced to confront his growing feelings for his best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Why Do Fools Fall in Love

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting on my computer half-finished for ages, and I've had the idea for even longer. I'm glad it's finally done, and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> The title is from that wonderful old song of the same name by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers.  
> This fic is unbetaed, so all mistakes are mine.

The rain came out of nowhere.  One minute they were walking down the sidewalk, side-by-side, with nothing to bother them except their own thoughts.  Then, suddenly, the sky opened up and the rain was pouring down on them in sheets. 

Before he could really register what was happening, Leonard was being tugged under the nearest doorway.  It provided some safety from the rain, but it was so small that they had to stand almost flush to each other. 

“My place is closer,” Leonard had to almost shout, the rain was so loud.  Spock nodded as he looked down at his friend. 

“I suggest we leave immediately,” Spock said.

“Ya think?” Leonard huffed with a smile.  He stared up at Spock face, which was only a few slim inches from his own.  They were so close that he could see the rain drops clinging to Spock’s eye lashes, and feel the other man’s breath on his face. 

Leonard took all this in in a matter of seconds; his heartbeat picking up with each new, beautiful detail he noticed.  He wondered if Spock could hear his heart hammering against his ribcage. 

A slight flush started to spread across Spock’s face and he shuffled awkwardly in the tight space. “Your home is in that direction, correct?” Spock pointed down the sidewalk and awkwardly looked away. 

“Yeah, that’s right,” Leonard nodded distractedly as he pulled his gaze away from his friend’s face to glance down the street.  “It’s a few blocks down from here,”

“Right, then we should go,” Spock said as he stepped forcefully into the street, leaving Leonard suddenly much more alone under the doorway.  He tried to brush aside this new empty feeling, and stepped down onto the sidewalk.  

He quickly caught up to the other man and fell in step beside him.  As he hurried along, the rain pounding down on his shoulders and back, Leonard couldn’t help but think about the last few months. 

He, Jim and Spock had been friends in high school, but then Spock left for some fancy foreign university, and they lost touch.  When Leonard finally saw him again at Jim’s birthday party, it was less than enjoyable.

Spock had just seemed so goddamn aloof that he could barely stand being in the same room with him.  Christine made fun of him for a week afterwards, calling him Miss Bennet and saying he was overreacting.

Then, of course, Spock came to the hospital to use one of their high-tech labs while working on a new research paper _._ At first, it was infuriating.  But then…

 Leonard glanced over at Spock, who continued to stride along, paying absolutely no attention to the downpour or to him.    

After a few minutes of this, they eventually reached Leonard’s tiny apartment.  Their shoulders bumped as Leonard pulled out his keys, his hands fumbling from the cold and damp.

“Make yourself at home,” Leonard said as he tossed his keys on the nearby table, and gestured towards the hallway, “You can get a towel from the bathroom,” He looked at the man dripping all over his carpet, and grinned, “I think I can find something dry for you to wear,”

Spock raised a questioning eyebrow, and Leonard huffed in response.  “Don’t worry, I’ll find something different from that shirt I wore the other day,”

“It was made of a very questionable pattern,” Spock said as he strode toward the bathroom, his hands clasped gracefully behind his back, even now. 

Leonard grinned at him, “Yeah, you and Jim made that abundantly clear,” He stepped into his room, still grinning, and grateful that the awkward moment between them seemed to have passed.  He threw on some dry cloths and grabbed an extra set for Spock. 

He quickly stepped down the hall, as he came up with the next quip he was going to use to _definitely_ win that argument over the shirt.  He was so relieved that everything was getting back to normal, that he wasn’t paying any attention to where he was going and walked straight into the bathroom without thinking. 

Suddenly Leonard was staring at Spock in just his boxers.  He stopped dead in his tracks, wide eyed. 

“Um-,” Leonard stammered, his mouth gapping open.  Spock stood there, just as frozen.  “Um...Sorry.  I’ll just…ah…go,”

Leonard started to turn around, but he was distracted and didn’t notice the puddle on the floor.  His feet flew out from under him and he landed heavily on the tile. 

Spock quickly stepped forward and knelt down in front of the other man on the floor.  “Are you all right?” He asked worriedly, concern evident on his face. 

Leonard steadied himself and tried to wave Spock away.  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” He said, “I was just…” he looked up at Spock and noticed how close they had gotten, “…surprised is all,”

Spock seemed to have noticed too.  He stilled, their eyes meeting. 

Leonard could feel his pulse quicken and his heart beat roar in his ears.  This had been happening too much.  He couldn’t take it.  It was hard to forget your feelings for a guy when he keeps putting his face inches from yours. 

“Spock-,” He started, so frighteningly unsure of where the sentence was going to go.  But before he could even find out, Spock shuffled back and stood up, breaking whatever trance had held him there so long.  Again Leonard was left feeling alone and cold, the space between them empty.

“I’m sorry I startled you, it was not my intention,” Spock said deliberately, folding his arms behind his back, as always, and staring down at the ground. 

Leonard shook himself back to reality.  He was sitting on the floor of his bathroom in a puddle, two feet from his half naked friend.  He would have found it funny in any another situation, with any another person. 

He looked back up at Spock, and realized he needed to say something.  “No, I’m sorry,” He said, “I really should have knocked.  I wasn’t thinking straight,” Spock nodded, still not meeting his gaze. 

“Thank you for the clothes,”

“It might do you some good to put some on,” Leonard couldn’t help but grin at Spock’s amused raise of an eyebrow.  But, the moment barely lasted, and soon they lapsed into an awkward, thick silence. 

Leonard heaved himself off the floor, and handed the dry clothes over to Spock.  He pointed toward the living room.  “The couch is free and there’s blankets and stuff in the hall closet,” Spock just nodded again, still staring at the floor. 

“Thank you,” was all he said, as Leonard turned and made a beeline for his room at the end of the hall.  He closed the door heavily behind him and leaned against it.  He slid down to the floor and rested his head in his hands. 

“What the hell is up with me?” He asked himself harshly.  _Why did it have to get like this?_   _Why can’t we just go back to arguing all the time?_  

Something inside him knew he couldn’t go back, that his feelings were just growing stronger every day.  He also knew nothing would come of it.  This is Spock, for Christs sakes.  His longest relationship was about a week, and in middle school, when he didn’t realize what Jim meant by “boyfriend”. 

Leonard smirked at the memory.  He rubbed his hand over his face and tried to clear his head, but he couldn’t seem to get Spock out of his mind.  “Damn it,” he mumbled under his breath, “I had to go and fall for _him_ , didn’t I?”

He could still see the day they met.  After being forced to sit together in science, they had barely spoken to each other, just sat in a stiff silence of first day jitters.  Then he had made the wild decision to be the gentleman and introduced himself. 

If he had only known it would lead to him to this, sitting dazed on the floor, on the brink of tears. 

As Leonard stood up with a sigh, he glanced at the door, the only solid thing separating them.  He thought about turning that knob, and how easy it would be to just walk down the hall and tell Spock everything he had been bottling up for months. 

But then how would he react?  It would screw up their friendship, and make everything awkward, even with his other friends.  He just couldn’t risk that. 

Or could he? Leonard bit his lip and shakily reached for the door.  Without really understanding what he was doing, he turned the knob slowly and eased the door open. 

And found himself face to face with the one man he wanted to see. 

Spock looked bewildered and pulled his hand back, which had been poised to open the door.  He moved his lips as if he was going to say something but stopped. 

Instead he just looked right into Leonard’s eyes and saw the surprise and indecision mirrored there.  Their gazes were locked for what felt like ages before someone finally moved. 

“I-,” Whatever Leonard had started to say died in his throat as Spock practically dove forward with a mesmerizing intensity.  Their lips crashed together, months of pent up emotion and yearning released in that one passionate embrace. 

Leonard tangled his fingers in Spock’s hair, as he felt the other man’s strong arms wrap around his shoulders.  Soon, he was being pushed up against the wall as their kissing got even hungrier. 

He started to grab at Spock’s shirt and pull him toward the bedroom door.  He let himself get dragged along, and as they stumbled into the room, he pulled back slightly, breathing heavily. 

They locked eyes again, their breath mingled as Leonard’s forehead rested on Spock’s.  He couldn’t help but break into a toothy grin. 

“What is it?” Spock asked, still catching his breath, a slight smile also playing on his lips. 

“I just…” Leonard started to say but one look at the face so close to his and he drew in for a loving kiss.  When they parted, he shook his head in disbelief.  “I just never thought this would actually happen,” he said with a smile.

Spock nodded, but as Leonard pressed in for another kiss, Spock drew away slightly, something new in his eyes.  Leonard stopped instantly, fear filling his heart.  What if he went too far? What the hell is he doing?

“What is it?” he asked frantically, stepping back to give Spock some space, “I screwed everything up didn’t I?”

Spock moved to fill the space, an apologetic look crossing his features.  He stepping in close, and brought his hands to either side of Leonard’s face.  “No, wait,” he said frantically, “I apologize, I was unclear,” He drew Leonard’s face upwards so he was looking directly at him. 

“I don’t regret this for a minute.  I’m just new to…this…” Spock’s already flushed face took on deeper hue.

Leonard gently reached up and cradled the other man’s face.  “Spock,” he said softly, “It’s ok.  We can take this as slow as you want to,” 

The affection and gratitude evident on Spock’s face was enough to make Leonard’s heart ache.  He leaned in and brought their lips together, while slowly maneuvering them to sit on the edge of the bed.  

Soon they were curled around each other in the bed, kissing slow and lovingly.  They eventually fell asleep like that, surrounded by each other and the slight sounds of the rain. 

\------

Leonard woke up to the sun just beginning to peak through his window.  For a second he just lay there, staring at his ceiling, trying to remember if he got to see Joanna today, when the night before came flooding back.  A warm smile lit his face as he turned over in search of Spock. 

But he only found a cold bed.  Leonard sat up quickly and looked around, scared for a second he had only dreamed of last night.  But, there, neatly folded on a chair, the cloths he lent to Spock. 

“Shit,” He said, the dread creeping back.  He _royally_ screwed up this time.  There was no going back from this.  “Shit,” He said again, climbing numbly from his bed. 

He started pacing, trying to figure out what he should do next.  Call Spock?  Nope.  Definitely not.  Call Jim? No, then _everyone_ would know. 

“Shit, shit, shit,” He needed something to eat.  It was too early to deal with this black feeling crawling through him. 

He made his way to the kitchen in a fog, still trying to decide what his next step should be.  Maybe-

“Good morning Leonard,” He looked up sharply and was surprised to see Spock, standing over the stove. 

“Spock?” He stammered, “I- I thought you had left,” Realization dawned in the other man’s eyes and he glanced down at the eggs embarrassed. 

“It seems I made a mistake.  I have caused you great distress,” he said woefully, “Believe me when I say the complete opposite was my intention,”  When he looked back over at Leonard though, he was shocked to see the other man barely containing his laughter.  Spock’s adorably quizzical look only made it worse, and soon Leonard was laughing out loud. 

“We are so bad at this,” He managed to get out, clutching at his side, “We can’t do anything right can we?” He smiled good naturedly at Spock, and soon was stepping close and reassuringly placing his hands on his shoulder.

Spock, finally understanding what Leonard found so amusing, sharing a rare half-smile.  “I am very new to this,” he said.  Leonard grinned and reached up for a kiss.  It was more hesitant than anything last night, but had the promise of many more to come. 

When they finally parted, Leonard said “We’ll figure this out together ok?” Spock nodded, so much emotion shining in his eyes. 

“But first, how about that breakfast?” Leonard stepped around Spock to poke at the eggs, while Spock raised an eyebrow. 

“Of course,” He said, the good natured humor in his voice not lost on the other man, “Anything you wish,”

“See? Learning already,” Leonard grinned at him, with a snicker, which quickly turned to a yelp as Spock grabbed him from behind and pulled him close.  They laughed and kissed. 

The eggs may have burnt, but neither of them noticed or cared.  There were more important things to think about, like some very important lips that needed _lots_ of kissing. 

**Author's Note:**

> Someday I'll write a fic where McCoy doesn't fall on his ass but today is not that day.  
> I hope you liked it anyway!


End file.
